Attorney
General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Hyacinth Uche,
a pharmacist in Baltimore City, has been charged with stealing thousands
of dollars from Medicaid and private insurers between 2000 and 2002,
by billing for medications that were never requested by nor provided
to customers.

Uche,
57, of the 1400 block of King William Drive in Woodlawn, is the
owner of HISCO Pharmacy, located at 5613 Belair Road in Baltimore.
He has been charged with one count of felony Medicaid fraud, three
counts of felony insurance fraud, and four counts of theft.

Felony
Medicaid fraud is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years
in prison and a $100,000 fine. Felony insurance fraud is punishable
by not more than fifteen years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Felony
theft is punishable by not more than fifteen years in prison and
a $25,000 fine.

Earlier
this year, Uche was charged by the Office of the Attorney General
in a 20-count indictment alleging that on 10 different occasions,
he illegally distributed narcotics from his pharmacy. That case
is currently scheduled for trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court
on January 13, 2003.

Bail
in the fraud case has been set at $25,000. An arraignment date has
not yet been set.

An
indictment is but an accusation based upon a finding of probable
cause, and a Defendant is innocent unless proven guilty.

This
case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud
Control Unit with the assistance of the Insurance Fraud Division.